


Fledgling

by kitsune



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Gen, Vancouver Canucks, Wingfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-23
Updated: 2015-04-23
Packaged: 2018-03-25 10:35:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3807169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitsune/pseuds/kitsune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Mama," he said excitedly, "Look! I have wings!"</p><p>"Oh Eddie." She looked at her husband. He raised his newspaper higher. </p><p>"Don't look at me," he grumbled. "This is your side of the family."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fledgling

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [That One Guy in Juniors](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1685444) by [orphan_account](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account). 



> Doing internet research on Eddie Lack’s family felt creepy, so anything I didn’t find out from published interviews or Twitter is completely made up. I started this story almost a year ago and have poked at it every so often, but I think it's time to let it fly free from the WIP folder. Thanks for reading!

On Eddie’s 10th birthday, Mia Lack heard her son's bedroom door bang open. 

"In the kitchen, sweetheart," she called. "Come have your breakfast." Instead of his usual pattering run down the hardwood floor, she heard thumps and scraping sounds echoing from the hallway. He lurched into the kitchen, unbalanced by the large wings extending from his back, rumpled from where he'd careened from wall to wall. 

"Look," he said excitedly, "I have wings!"

"Oh Eddie." She looked at her husband. He raised his newspaper higher. 

"Don't look at me," he grumbled. "This is your side of the family." 

At his parents' lack of enthusiasm, Eddie's face fell and the wings drooped dejectedly to match. She stepped forward and brushed the hair off his forehead to kiss it. "It's nothing bad, darling. We just didn't expect it for you." She took him by the shoulders and turned him around. "Oh, such a mess you've made of these," she scolded gently. "Nobody wants to see a rumpled Valkyrie." She ran her hands lightly down the edges, settling the primaries and secondaries back into place.

"Oh, that feels nice, Mama," he said. 

She smiled. "It's like brushing your hair or scratching your back. You can do it yourself, but it's so much better if someone else does." She preened the coverts and his wings reflexively extended. "Don’t mantle in the house, Eddie."

"Yes, Mama," he said obediently, pulling them back in. He pulled his chair out from the table and paused, baffled by how to fit himself and his wings on it now. Over? Between? Splayed to the side?

Mia offered him a stool, so his wings could drape naturally down his back without being crushed.

"Thank you," he chirped happily as he plopped himself down. "Am I really a Valkyrie? Can I fly? Is it fun?"

"It is fun, yes. You will be able to fly soon, but you have to learn many other things as well. How to bring your wings out and put them away, how to preen. To care for your steed and sword.” She sighed. “I suppose we'll have to see if we can get you into the next Valkyrie training camp instead of hockey. And we just bought the new pads and skates."

Miss hockey? Eddie turned horrified eyes to her. "I don't want wings if I can't play hockey!" And he'd just been wondering if they would help him block more of the goalmouth. 

His father folded the newspaper and tucked it next to his bowl. "You listen to your mother," he said. "She knows far more about this than you do." He stood and kissed Mia on the cheek. "I'll keep myself busy for the day, but you should probably talk to Vala."

As he left the kitchen she turned back to her son, sulking over his cereal. "Darling, you're a Valkyrie now. You will grow up to have responsibilities. Do you remember what Valkyries do?"

"Choose the heroes from the slain and serve them mead in Valhalla," he said resentfully, staring down at his bowl.

"So nice to know you were paying attention in school that day instead of drawing goalie masks," she said. "There are many jobs you can do now and still be a Valkyrie. Some focus more on service and some on the warriors. Oh, I suppose he's right, we'd better ask the Sibyl for a divination."

Eddie perked up. He liked going to the Sibyl. One day each summer his mother would pack an elaborate picnic lunch and they would take the tram down to the Sibyl's house on the river, a narrow little cottage with a tiny deck overlooking the languid water. His mother would lay out the food, and invite Vala to eat, then serve herself and Eddie. When younger, he could snuggle on his mother's lap while the women talked over his head. Now he was too big, so instead he sat on the jetty and traded pebbles with the ravens, splashing his feet in the water and thinking ahead to winter and hockey. 

Mia took her apron off. "Well," she said thoughtfully, "what shall we offer?"

"Aren't we taking a picnic?"

"The summer visits are just being neighborly, dear. It's polite to bring food without asking for anything in return. Now we're going to petition for a divination, though, so it needs to be a proper offering." Eddie followed his mother to her bedroom and sat on the bed as she rummaged in her jewelry box, withdrawing another, smaller box in which she kept broken jewelry and odds and ends. She stirred the contents thoughtfully with a finger, finally selecting three earrings that had lost their mates--a small smooth golden hoop, a larger, thicker, engraved silver hoop, and a plain pearl stud. "With small things always offer in threes, and the three as different from each other as you can manage. If you don't know what to offer Vala, then find something shiny for her ravens." She tucked the three disparate earrings into a little velvet bag and put it in her pocket.

"Now, you can't wear your coat until you learn to put away your wings." Eddie gasped. He'd been so excited at having wings he never thought about how impossible it would be to fit his hockey gear around them. The visit to the Sibyl took on new urgency. "I think…ah!" Mia reached to the back of the closet and pulled out an old wool cloak. It fell to his heels, providing adequate, if lumpy, cover for his wings. "It's a good thing you've grown so tall, my little stork," she teased, "or you couldn't wear the cloak and I'd have to take you out in a blanket, rolled up like a pancake.” She stroked his hair gently and he closed his eyes and contentedly leaned against her. “Hold your wings close to your body, they'll help keep you warm as well."

Eddie pulled back to look up at her. "Mama, do you have wings?"

"Yes, and if there was more time I'd show you. But we need to go." 

 

In summer the Sibyl’s house drowsed on the riverbank like a cat in the sun, but in the cold it huddled in on itself, small and dark, hiding from the piercing wind whistling down the frozen river. Instead of her usual light double knock, his mother pounded on the door. Catching Eddie’s widened eyes she laughed softly. “Vala hibernates in winter. She does not love the snow, only running water. It will take some noise to wake her.”

Eventually the door opened and the wizened face of the Sibyl poked out. “What--,” she snapped, then aggrievedly, “Mia. I was sleeping, you know.” But she stepped back to let them enter and turned to light another lantern. 

Once the door was closed behind them and her coat hung on a hook, Mia bowed, low and formal, then stood, tall and dignified. “Vala,” she said respectfully, “We seek your counsel. On behalf of my son I request your wisdom and Sight.” Eddie gaped at his mother. Little hairs escaping from her braids caught the dim lantern light and formed a shining nimbus behind her head. The air stirred, as if large invisible wings had fanned out, and her hands seemed to shape the hilt of a ghostly sword. Then he blinked and closed his mouth, and suddenly it was just his mother again: a little taller than him, with her usual slightly harried expression, hands politely clasped in front. 

She held out the small velvet bag and he heard the rustle of wings and soft warbles that meant the ravens were interested. Vala took the bag, peered inside and chuckled, sounding weirdly like the ravens for a moment. She held the bag out at arm’s length and the largest raven swooped in to grab it in her beak, then flapped away to a darkened corner of the room, accompanied by the other birds, where a muted squabbling commenced. 

“Ask,” Vala said.

“Today is Eddie’s birthday and he awoke with wings. This is…unexpected, and we ask that you determine our best course.”

Vala grunted, although Eddie couldn’t tell if it was surprise or just acknowledgement. She shuffled over to a cabinet and took out a shallow silver bowl, then opened a drawer to pull out a large knife. She handed these over to him with instructions to go down to the river and get enough ice to fill the bowl. 

“Be careful!” interjected his mother.

Vala struck a match to light the small stove and placed a coffeepot on top. “He’ll be fine,” she said dismissively. “I don’t suppose you thought to bring any sandwiches?”

Eddie let himself out of the house, clutching the knife and bowl and trying not to step on the hem of the cloak. A trip would send him rolling down the snowy riverbank. The knife was awkwardly large, but by wrapping both hands around the handle he was able to get enough leverage to chip ice from the river’s surface. When he came back inside the two women were sipping coffee and sitting in comfortable silence, broken only by the coos and croaks from the ravens gloating over their new treasures. He offered the knife back to Vala handle first, then the bowl. She wiped the knife and put it away, but refused the bowl. “Hold the ice in your hands over the bowl until it all melts,” she instructed. 

A few minutes later his hands were stinging with cold, but Vala pulled the bowl of melted water down to her end of the small table and bent her head over it. He started to speak, but his mother shook her head as she touched her fingers lightly to his lips. He fidgeted, and she took the cloak off him and used it to dry his hands, then draped it over her chair back and gently wrapped his fingers around her warm coffee cup. He took a few sips but he couldn’t ask for sugar and milk, so he just held it for the heat and watched Vala.

The Sibyl was muttering to herself, but Eddie couldn’t hear most of what she was saying. “Belc!” she spat once, grumbled “preposterous” and “presumptuous” another time, and then something thoughtfully that was definitely not Swedish and sounded like “longo”. 

Just as he was debating going over to see if the ravens would be more entertaining, Vala stilled and the very air in the cottage felt charged, as if lightning were to strike any moment. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and his mother gripped his arm tightly. The sibyl raised her head and stared at him directly but unfocused. When she spoke her voice tolled through the small room like a deep bell. “Pursue your dreams. Never forget your duties. Beware of fire. Kings and bears will be your enemy, but your brothers will give you strength.” The room was silent, not even the ravens rustling, then the tension broke as she pushed the bowl away to the middle of the table and slumped in her chair. “Well,” she said. “This is unusual.”

“Yes,” Mia said patiently, “we knew that. I was looking for a solution, or at least an explanation.”

“You know the reason: your family has a Valkyrie in each generation. That it’s your son rather than your sister’s daughters…admittedly that’s different. But there’s no reason he can’t be trained as any girl would.”

“I don’t want to be a Valkyrie,” Eddie burst out. “I don’t want a stupid horse or a sword, I just want to play hockey! I want to go to the NHL!” 

Vala raised her eyebrows at Mia and said severely, “He’s rather ignorant.”

She shook her head ruefully. “I never thought this could happen, so all he knows is what they learn in school. “ She turned to Eddie. “Darling, I told you, there are many things you can do as a Valkyrie. Almost nobody rides around on steeds anymore, and your sword will become whatever you need it to when you decide how you will fulfill your duty.”

“Can it be a goalie stick?” he asked resentfully. 

Vala interrupted the incipient family drama. “Actually, that is quite a good idea. Eddie, sit. Mia, pour yourself some more coffee while I educate your son.” She leaned forward to catch his eye. She said solemnly, “Your future can be the NHL, Eddie. Not quickly, but if you work hard, it will come. And you will have help on the way. You don’t know how or who or when. You have to do the work yourself or it won’t come to pass. But it is possible.”

He focused on the important part of her statement. “You saw that? I’ll play in the NHL?” he asked eagerly. 

“You have the _potential_ ,” she emphasized. “But you must respect the part of you that is a Valkyrie. 

He felt a cautious optimism. “How would I be a Valkyrie and play hockey?” he asked. 

She turned the question back to him. “How will you find warriors and serve them while you play?”

Eddie stared at her, thinking. “Sport is sort of like war and a team of hockey players are like warriors fighting together. I don’t have any brothers, but you said my brothers would help me. Does that mean my team will be my brothers?” He looked at her hopefully.

Vala inclined her head. “Possibly. Divination involves a certain amount of poetic license. And how would you serve them?”

Eddie was stumped. “Play well?” he hazarded. Vala’s look warned him that this wasn’t good enough. Serving…how did goalies help the team? “A goalie…protects,” he said slowly, thinking aloud. “A goalie is the last one who can stop the puck. Who can save the game.” That was true, but it didn’t sound like the answer, or maybe only a part of it. “I, uh, make people laugh a lot. I make jokes and they aren’t so nervous, or they don’t feel so bad about mistakes.” He spared a glance at Vala’s face, and was encouraged. “I would help people be better by, um, making them feel like part of the team, and having them trust me. I would make the fans happy, so they give the team more support, and I would be very good at the goalie part, so they can trust me there, too.”

“Sufficient,” she said, “for your age. It needs work, but in time it will become the heart of your mission.”

“But what about my wings?” he asked plaintively. “Mama says it can take time to learn to put them away. And if anyone finds out that a boy is a Valkyrie…I don’t want everyone to pay attention to me for that.”

Vala nodded. “There is a spell to help you hide them, meant to allow a girl time to find a husband or,” she eyed him, “whatever. And you are still a Valkyrie--you must learn to care for a steed and sword.”

He grimaced at the thought of time away from the ice and his mother chuckled. “Don’t worry about the horses,” she said nostalgically. “They’re happy to spend their days in the fields of Valhalla, lazy things. You’ll want to transform your sword into a goalie stick, though,” she reminded him.

He nodded. “I will learn,” he promised. “But I have to practice hockey so much. I’m going to be in the NHL someday!”

His mother smiled at him affectionately and turned to Vala. “Can you do it today? Then we will leave you to your sleep and need not disturb you again.”

“Fine,” she said grumpily. She turned to the shadowed corner where the ravens muttered, and beckoned. The smallest one harvested spiderwebs from the ceiling corners, and the Sibyl turned Eddie so his back was to her. She took the swaths of spiderweb from the raven and draped it over his wings. It tickled and they twitched involuntarily.

“You will learn to control your wings with time. The spell will help you until then,” she said. “But all magic must have an end. Do you want to choose the condition? True love’s kiss, perhaps?” she offered slyly.

Eddie wrinkled his nose. “Ewww. I’m going to play hockey, I’m not going to kiss anyone.” He determinedly ignored the smiles the two women exchanged. “I don’t know what to pick.”

"Vanquishing evil is traditional, but not really appropriate here." Her gaze went distant for a moment. “Gaining your heart’s desire is a good one. And by then you might not need the spell anyway.” She smoothed her gnarled hands over the wings, sneezing once as dust puffed up from the spiderwebs. She glowered at the raven perched on a chairback, but continued her muttering in a strange, gutteral tongue. He felt the sudden lightness on his back and almost fell over when he no longer needed to lean forward to compensate for the weight. She taught him the syllables to start and stop the spell and made him practice until they tripped smoothly off his tongue.

With a last polite thank you to Vala, they left the little house, wings tucked magically away. Eddie felt the bubbling excitement of the morning return as he held his mother’s hand and walked down the street. His life seemed to stretch in front of him like the tram on its tracks, leading away to the horizon, to the future he dreamt of and the promise of flight in the crisp, bright air.


End file.
